Automatic vending machine with rotatable merchandise drums



Oct. 22, 1963 E.'Wl] 'TEi 1 BORG 3,107,315

V AUTOMATIC VENDING MACHINE WITH ROTATABLE MERCHANDISE DRUMS V Filed May 19. 1960 2 Sheets-Sh eet 2 /NVEAIIVT(IDE ERIK l l lrrz/vso'ea 3,197,815 AUTGMATIE VENDING MACE WITH ROTATARLE MERCHANDIEE DRUMS Erik Wittenhorg, 1-3 Seehladsgade, Qdense, Denmark Filed May 19, 19st), Ser. No. 36,111 Claims priority, application Denmark .l'uly 24, 1959 6 (Ilaims. (Cl. 221-76) In automatic vending machines having rotatable merchandise drums arranged one above the other and with radial partitions placed at identical angular distance it is known to support the drums so that they are rotatable individually about a common vertical axis.

It is the object of the invention to provide the owner or user of the vending machine with the possibility of adjusting the height of the compartments in the individual drums in accordance with the merchandise he wants to vend therefrom. He can thereby actually adapt the machine to the sale of the goods which, based on his experience, he deems of primary interest as a sales object in the machine, and if he wants to vend different articles from the machine he may give the various drums different heights so that the proportion between expected demand and available supplies in the vending machine becomes identical. If the demand changes with taste and season, the vending machine may be modified accordingly.

In the automatic vending machine according to the invention this is accomplished thereby that each partition is readily exchangeable and attachable to the drum bottom by means of at least one attachment pin introduced transversely of the tangential direction or" the drum, preferably vertically in the direction towards the drum bottom, the members supporting the drum, as *well as its actuating mechanisms and locking mechanisms, being placed in vertical attachment means provided in the frame of the machine so that the individual drums can be adjusted to a desired height.

The drawing shows various embodiments of the auto matic vending machine according to the invention.

FIGURE 1 shows a vending machine with closed door, viewed obliquely from the front.

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal section through the same, with open door.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective vie-w of a part of the supporting frame of the machine.

FIGURE 4 is a part of one of the merchandise drums of the machine, viewed obliquely from below.

FIGURE 5 is a joint bolt with a nut, a single sleeve and a wall section for the same drum as is shown in FIGURE 4 and FIGURE 6 is a part of another merchandise drum, viewed obliquely from above. I

The vending machine shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 consists of an outer heat-insulating casing 1 in whose lower part 2 there is placed a refrigerating machine whereas the parts of the vending machine proper are located in the upper part of the casing. Behind a window 3 are seen the goods on sale in the machine. The goods are placed in sector shaped compartments provided in cylindrical drums which are rotatable about a common vertical axis and each drum 4 contains its special kind of goods 5. As will be evident the compartments with merchandise are neither higher nor broader than necessary for accommodating the goods in question.

The window 3 is placed in the .front wall 6 of the machine, the said wall being pivotable about a vertical hinge 7 and lockable by means of a key introduced in a lock 8. The wall 6 has furthermore a door 9 capable of pivoting about vertical pins 10 when the door is opened and turned into the position shown in FIGURE 2.

A customer buying goods at first inserts a coin into a slot 11, whereupon the slot mechanism 12 after having Patented Oct. 22, l 963 "ice approved the coin affords the customer the possibility of causing one of the drums containing goods at a price corresponding to the value of the coin inserted to turn. The customer presses a button 13 located opposite the said drum whereby its locking mechanism, consisting substantially of a movable arm 14 ending in a hook 15, by electric action releases the drum 4 involved and permits it to turn in the direction of an arrow 16 by an angle corresponding to the width of a compartment. As a result, the merchandise that has been in the extreme righthand position inside the window 3 is conveyed into the space 17 to which the door 9 gives access, and the customer may then directly remove the goods.

A wall 18 blanks oh the directly preceding-compartments of the drum which have already been emptied.

When the front wall 6 has been opened and the wall 18 has been turned aside about a pivot 19, the empty drums 4 may directly be removed from the vending machine and be replaced by fresh, filled drums of corresponding kind. In fact, each drum rests on three rollers, of which the two 29 and 21 are idle, whereas the third roller 22 is mechanically moved and cooperates with the slot mechanism 12 and the locking mechanism 15 in such manner that it advances the said drum when certain projections 32 provided beneath the drum are clear of the hook 15.

The casing 1 has at its rear end a detachable flap 24 through which the locking mechanism may be inspected and the drum may be filled with goods, if required.

As shown in FIGURE 4 a drum consists of a circular bottom 25 and a corresponding circular ceiling 26, both having a large central aperture 27. Ceiling and bottom are assembled by means of joint bolts of which a single one 28 is shown in FIGURE 5. Besides being passed through ceiling and bottom the said bolt is passed through three Wall sections 29 and sleeves 3t Beneath the bottom 25 the bolt 28 has a threaded end 31 which is screwed into a cylindrical'nut 32 projecting from the underside of the bottom 25. The said projecting parts 32 cooperate with the hook 15, FIGURE 2, of the locking mechanism so that for each insertion of coins in the slot the drum can only be advanced by :an angular distance corresponding to the angular distance between two projecting parts 32.

Through the central aperture 27 vertical air ventilation may take place in the vending machine, and the horizontal air ventilation may take place between the wall sections 29. In this way it becomes possible to ensure a substantial cooling of the goods in the machine.

Through each wall section 29 are passed two bolts 28, and all the bolts 28 ensure the necessary assembly and rigidity of the drum.

As will appear from FIGURE 4, both the bottom 25 and the ceiling 26 have two circles of equidistant holes 33 and 34. By passing the bolts 28 through a suitable number of the said holes, it becomes possible to divide the drum into two, three, four, six, eight, twelve, etc. compartments, depending on the width of the merchandise involved, and if, on the other hand varying numbers of wall sections 29 are used, the height of the drum can be adapted to the goods. If so, it is only necessary to use a set of joint bolts 28 of the desired length.

If, for example, the height of the lowermost drum is increased, the rollers 20, 21 and 22 of the drums lying above it have to be raised correspondingly. All the rollers are therefore secured in supports 36 provided in the frame of the machine, FIGURE 3, the said supports having vertical rows of equidistant holes 37 in which the pivots 35 carrying the rollers may be secured. The advancing roller 22 is carried by a frame 38 which is sim ilarly adjustable. The roller 22 is driven through a coupling 39, FIGURE 2, by means of a chain wheel 40 driven through a chain 41 which is common for all the advancing rollers 22 and at its upper end is driven by a motor during the intervals of advancing movement. When the customer presses the button 13 opposite the drum 4 involved, he causes by electric means the coupling 39 of the advancing roller involved to mesh, whereby the movement is transmitted from the chain 41 to the advancing roller involved. Simultaneously with the button 13 being manipulated, the hook 15 islikewise by electric means-disengaged from the projecting part 32 beneath the bottom of the drum, the said part having hitherto prevented its rotation.

Since the advancing and locking mechanisms are not comprised in the invention, there will be no further description of these mechanisms here.

The various parts of the drum may consist of metal plate or plastic. The said parts may, for example, be transparent. Sometimes it may be preferred to make the drums without ceiling 26. In such cases it is sufi'icient as shown in FIGURE 6 to attach radial wall sections 42 by means of clamping bolts, of which only the heads 43 are visible. The inner end of the Walls may by means of horizontal pins (not shown) directed inwards be attached in and thereby be guided laterally in holes 44 provided in a central cylindrical wall 45. To stiffen the bolt heads 43 in relation to each other a ring 46 may, for example, be inserted and, if desired, the hooks 15 of the locking mechanisms may be caused to cooperate with the bolt heads 43.

The rollers 20, 21 and 22 may be of such diameter that there will 'be just such vertical distance between two rollers that a drum fits in the intermediary space. Should a drum owing to its load of goods be so much heavier in the side facing the display window 3 than in the oppo' site side that it will tend to tilt about the line passing through the approximately diametrall-y arranged rollers 24 22, the drum will be prevented therefrom because its ceiling will strike the directly overlying roller 21.

The three rollers supporting the individual drum should be spaced at a distance from eachother less than or not more than about 186; however, the angular distance between the rollers and 22 should he very near 180 so that the drums can be replaced without difliculty.

The bottom of each drum has a peripheral path 4'] which is fluted or knurled and rests on the rollers 20, 21 and 22.

When the wall 48, to which the releasing mechanism 12 is attached is pivoted about pivots 49, the said mechanism may be advanced in the space 17 and thereby be readily inspected by the owner of the machine or by a repairer.

By pressing a button 50 the customer may recover through a repayment opening 51 coins he has slotted by mistake.

What I claim and desire to secure =by Patent Letters is:

1. In automatic vending machines of the type having a frame in which a plurality of superimposed drums having radial partitions are mounted for independent rotation about their common vertical axes, the improvement which comprises, each drum having a bottom plate upon which the radial partitions seat and an annular overlying the partitions, the bottom plates and annular rims having similar circular series of openings therein and the partitions having vertical openings therethrough, bolts insertable through selected openings of the circular series and the openings in the partitions to secure the partitions in the drums at desired locations, rolling supports for each drum spaced circum ferentially of the drum upon which the bottom plate rides, the frame having vertical rows of support-receiving openings therein to receive the rolling supports for each drum whereby the supports for each drum may be mounted at a plurality of vertical heights, one or" the supports for each lbeing driven, and locking means for each drum mounted on the frame for vertical adjustment in accordance with the drum positions.

2. In automatic vending machines of the type having a frame in which a plurality of superimposed drums having radial partitions are mounted for independent rotation about their common vertical axes and each drum having a bottom plate upon which the radial partitions seat and an outer annular rim about the periphery of said bottom plate overlying the partitions, the improvement which comprises, a plurality of at least three rolling supports for said annular rim of each drum spaced circumferentially of the drum in such a way that the angle between two of said rolling supports is the frame surrounding the drums having means for mounting said rolling supports for each drum in common horizontal planes at a plurality of vertically spaced positions, whereby the vertical spacing and the rolling supports for the respective drums can be varied to accommodate drums of different height.

3. The improvement in automatic vending machines as claimed in claim 2, which comprises a trame having three vertical supports spaced in such a way circumferentially of the drum that the angle between two of the vertical supports is 180, each of said vertical supports carrying a row of openings into which the rolling supports may be inserted.

4. In automatic vending machines of the type having a firame in which a plurality of superimposed drums having radial partitions are mounted for independent rotation about their common vertical axes, the improvement which comprises, each drum having a bottom plate upon which the radial partitions seat and an annular rim overlying the partitions, rolling supports for each drum spaced circum ferentially of the drum upon which the bottom plate rides,

one of said rolling supports for each drum being a driven member, means on the frame for mounting the rolling supports for each drum in common horizontal planes at a plurality of vertically spaced positions, whereby the vertical spacing between the rolling supports for the respective drums can be varied to accommodate of different height.

5. In automatic vending machines of the type having a frame in which a plurality of superimposed drums having radial partitions are mounted for independent rotation about their common vertical axes, the improvement which comprises, each drum having a bottom plate upon which the radial partitions seat and an annular rim overlying the partitions, said bottom plates and annular rims of the drums having similar circular series of openings therein and the partitions having vertical openings therethrough, and there are bolts in-sertable through selected openings of the circular series and the openings in the partitions to secure the partition in the drums at desired positions, rolling supports for each drum spaced circumferentially of the drum upon which the bottom plate rides, means on the frame for mounting the rolling supports for each drum in common horizontal planes at a plurality 'of vertically spaced positions, whereby the vertical spacing between the rolling supports for the respective drums can he varied to accommodate drums of different height.

6. The improvement in automatic vending machines as claimed in claim 5 wherein, the bolts extend vertically from the drums to provide locking pins, and there are locking means for each drum to engage the locking pin, the locking means being mounted on the frame and vertically adjustable on the frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,308,629 Rosenberg Jan. 19, 1943 2,359,182 Wilsey Sept. 26, 1944 2,411,950 Yzetta Dec. 3, 1946 2,435,177 Connell et a1. Jan. 27, 1948 

1. IN AUTOMATIC VENDING MACHINES OF THE TYPE HAVING A FRAME IN WHICH A PLURALITY OF SUPERIMPOSED DRUMS HAVING RADIAL PARTITION ARE MOUNTED FOR INDEPENDENT ROTATION ABOUT THEIR COMMON VERTICAL AXES, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES, EACH DRUM HAVING A BOTTOM PLATE UPON WHICH THE RADIAL PARTITIONS SEAT AND AN ANNULAR RIM OVERLYING THE PARTITIONS, THE BOTTOM PLATES AND ANNULAR RIMS HAVING SIMILAR CIRCULAR SERIES OF OPENINGS THEREIN AND THE PARTITIONS HAVING VERTICAL OPENINGS THERETHROUGH, BOLTS INSERTABLE THROUGH SELECTED OPENINGS OF THE CIRCULAR SERIES AND THE OPENINGS IN THE PARTITIONS TO SECURE THE PARTITIONS IN THE DRUMS AT DESIRED LOCATIONS, ROLLING SUPPORTS FOR EACH DRUM SPACED CIRCUMFERENTIALLY OF THE DRUM UPON WHICH THE BOTTOM PLATE RIDES, THE FRAME HAVING VERTICAL ROWS OF SUPPORT-RECEIVING OPENINGS THEREIN TO RECEIVE THE ROLLING SUPPORTS FOR EACH DRUM WHEREBY THE SUPPORTS FOR EACH DRUM MAY BE MOUNTED AT A PLURALITY OF VERTICAL HEIGHTS, ONE OF THE SUPPORTS FOR EACH DRUM BEING DRIVEN, AND LOCKING MEANS FOR EACH DRUM MOUNTED ON THE FRAME FOR VERTICAL ADJUSTMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DRUM POSITIONS. 